Well alot of people (including me) have complained about how the way Jeff Van Gundy coaches, the way he runs his plays, the amount of minutes he gives people etc etc.. I can't think of any on the top of my head so far but I would definitley give Andre Barrett more minutes as well as Clarence Weatherspoon. I would try and trade Mo Taylor for a PF that would husle for rebounds. I would make the team run because we do have some speed on our team, I can't think of anymore right now but i'll post more as I think of them... Post what you would do to improve this team if you were the coach!
First, a couple of management suggestions: I guess first I'd try until I was blue in the face to get rid of one of or both Juwan Howard or Maurice Taylor. At the beginning of the season I thought it was going to be bad because they were the exact same player. At least then I thought they were the same nice instant offense 4, but now it turns out they are just the same lump of crap with 2 different names. Donyell Marshall would make sense here. After that, I would try to shop Lue and or Ward, and either trade or sign another PG. He would have 3 requirements: good size, athletic, COACHABLE. We don't need a star PG, we just need someone that won't be a liability through their size or athleticism, which can be said about any and all of our current PG's. If anything, Sura has good size, but is borderline on athleticism at this point in his career. Eric Snow would be a good fit. Second, lineup changes: Sura McGrady Jackson Padgett Yao Those would be the starters, and the rotation players would be Barrett, Bowen, Weatherspoon, and Mutombo. Lue, Ward, Gaines, Taylor, Howard could all rot on the bench for a while, or stay home, or die. Third, strategy: On defense we'd run a zone. Probably a 2-3, to keep us from getting lit up from the baseline/corner when helping down on the post, and from Yao getting put on an island in high pick and roll situations. We'd make people beat us from the outside, rather than from the power forward position, which has been the case all season. Theoretically could help fast break opportunities as well, since zones force perimeter shots, which in turn cause long rebounds. We'd mix in man with the zone, rather than vice versa. Offensively, instead of Yao running a high screen and roll with Tracy, I'd have Jim run the pick and roll with Tracy. I think it would put a lot more pressure on a defense to weigh the options of doubling Tracy off the pick or leaving Jim room for a 3, than if Yao were setting the pick. Most defenders seem to be able to help and still get back to Yao in time. When running plays for Yao, I'd stop having the man throwing the entry pass clear out baseline. This seems to run the defender directly past Yao, which means that Yao has to hesitate a one count before putting the ball on the floor to make a move. If the player throwing the entry pass would just stay put and wait for a kickout pass off the double team (a la the days of Hakeem), or go set a high pick away from the ball, things would run much more smoothly. It seems like once Yao gets the ball in the post the offense becomes stagnant. One of the cardinal rules of basketball is "if you throw a pass, set a pick in the other direction". That's all I've got for now. It's 5am.
If I was Van Gundy, I'd not change anything right now. He's been doing the right thing by giving T-Mac more freedom and not letting Yao take a shot every possesion. Defensively, I'd like to see us play more of a zone defense, because the main area we are getting beat in is penetration. Our perimeter defense is solid, and I'd like to see if we can stop some of the penetration points if we try zone. It'd also be more likely to keep Yao out of foul trouble. Clarence Weatherspoon needs to play, and other than those points, I believe we are fine.
I wouldn't change anything either except giving Witherspoon more playing time and try trading for a better PG. If Van Gundy decied not to changeanything, though, it wouldn't be a bad move. DOn't mess with what's working.
Sura is now beginning to get in shape and last night was a great example of what he could do when 100%. I believe that the only position we have to work on is power forward and maybe finding a replacement for when Jackson retires. Other than that, we should at least be a playoff team.
I agree with most of those assessments by the posters above. I'd just like to point out that trading Mo Taylor is nearly impossible because of his heavily bloated contract (about $8 million a year for three more years - a total of $24 million.)
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Zhone:</div><div class="quote_post">I agree with most of those assessments by the posters above. I'd just like to point out that trading Mo Taylor is nearly impossible because of his heavily bloated contract (about $8 million a year for three more years - a total of $24 million.)</div> Oh man are you serious? I read rumours that they were trying to get rid of him...I guess thats why they call them rumours...
Taylor's contract by season: $8,450,000 :: $9,100,000 :: $9,750,000 Howard's contract by season: $5,408,700 :: $5,900,400 :: $6,392,100 :: $6,883,800 :: $7,375,500 And some potential (wishful) trade targets... P.J. Brown's contract by season: $8,000,000 :: $8,000,000 :: $8,000,000 Donyell Marshall's contract by season: $4,545,000 Stromile Swift's contract by season: $5,993,044
Here are a few things I would change(Sniper has pointed out a few of the items however I will expand a bit) First off on defense, I would like to see us play more zone and force teams to hit the outside jumper to win. I will be honest, if a team is going to shoot the ball as well as the Supersonics then they are going to win the game. We just need to except that with a 2-3 some teams will shoot the lights out. Lets except it and move on. I would rather give up contested three's the shots in or around the paint. Second, it is obvious that our power forwards for lack of a better word: SUCK. One suggestion is to completely eliminate the PF spot at times and run the 2-3 zone when we do. When you are undersized, this is a good defense to run as it spreads the offense out and makes them shoot perimeter shots. If anything comes down low, you have Yao/Mutumbo and an immediate swarm. I am not saying that we should play without a PF all the time, I just think it would be good to mix it up. On offense, I would institute a new rule, no post passes can happen from the corner and Yao must be at the second block when he catches the ball. The reason for this is simple, we are getting the ball to Yao to close to the baseline. With where he is catching it now, his only move is to the center. If he catches it at the second block, he now has room to make a power move to the basket or baseline or he can face up for the midrange jumper. On offense, especially if we dont have a PF in the game, I think we should go with a 4 around 1 offensive spread with Tracy and Sura at the top two positions. I want Yao on the second block. Eventually if all goes well they will have to double Yao creating a 4-3 matchup on the perimeter. They will usually rotate off of the top guard on the weak side. Yao can make an immediate fan to the open guy leaving him with either a shot, a quick swing to the corner for the 3, or with the rotating defense this person has a good oppurtunity for the penetration then look to score or dish. I think playing without a PF will really be a nice way to change the pace of the game up and give us more space on offense with the 4 around 1 offense.
Interesting ideas Hunter. But I think our main problems are offense. We run the clock down way too much for our own good which results in poor shot selection almost at the buzzer. Surprisingly, we do have speed in our team. Players like Sura, McGrady, Barrett, Lue, and Padgett all can run the floor well and I really think we need to capitalize on that. Sure, we may not beat teams like Dallas or Phoenix using this strategy, but I think it would help us in the long run. Van Gundy is concentrating way too much of the offense around Yao, who is also very passive, which causes alot of problems on our offensive end of the game. A good strategy I think to solve this problem will be setting motion plays for Houston if the other team is player zone. Yao can hit jumpers so why keep him in the paint for almost all of the plays? He can dish it to all the other players for easy layups or hit it back out to McGrady or Jackson for the perimeter shot.
